Officers found one person outside the car, not breathing, and another inside the vehicle with head injuries described as minor.

The person outside the car is believed to have been thrown from the vehicle as it rolled 300 to 500 feet down the hillside, smashing through trees. That person, believed to have been the passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other occupant of the car, a female who is believed to be the driver, was taken to Valley Medical Center.

The identities of the people in the single-car crash were not immediately available.

Eric Kurhi is a reporter for the Bay Area News Group based at The Mercury News. He covers Santa Clara County government and general assignment duties. An East Bay native, he has been editing and reporting at local newspapers since graduating from San Francisco State University in 1997.